Huge Bear, Controversial Kill

CRAIG, Colo. (CBS4) – ﻿A hunter from Craig may have killed one of the biggest bears ever in Colorado, but how the hunter bagged his prize is creating quite the controversy.

Richard Kendall told the Craig Daily Press that he tracked the 700 pound bear to its den in the Wilson Creek area north of Meeker. He waited five hours for it to come out. When the bear did not emerge, he went in and killed it. The Division of Wildlife says it has been getting lots of calls from people outraged about how Kendall killed the bear.

CBS4’s Dominic Garcia spoke with Randy Hampton of the Division of Wildlife who says the bear kill was not illegal, but it does go against some of the unspoken rules in the hunting world.

“There are certainly ethical standards within the hunting community: Don’t shoot ducks on a pond. Don’t shoot turkeys on a roost. Don’t shoot bears in a den.”

The Division of Wildlife says this incident will open up a discussion within the agency. They will then present their findings to the wildlife commission. Ultimately, it will be up to them to decide if what Kendall did will be illegal in the future.

This is very sad! It is one thing to hunt as a sport in Colorado, but to go into a bears den and murder him is outrageous!
I can understand if he was a menace or a threat to people then the wildlife division can deal with him, but to go kill a bear in its den is wrong. There must be rules to protect our wildlife in their homes!

So would it have been cool if he’d waited for the bear to come out? I don’t see the difference. He tracked the bear back to the den and probably didn’t get the shot until the bear had gone inside. I think it took a lot of balls to crawl into the bears den. The real skill in hunting is in finding and tracking the animal until you can get a shot.

This human has NO balls! I won’t even call him a man. A “real” man would never do such a thing. Karma has got her eyes on him and she can be a real biatch. There is a special place for people like him.

This is definitely the lowest of the low. And hunters can’t understand why they are not liked or respected. Hunters always say they are helpng the species but in reality they kill the largest and best for trophies and leave the weak to breed. I wonder if this guy would go after a child also. They shoot their high powered rifles next to my home and then the DOW protects them. Who is protecting the wildlife?

Really Patti,
You are extremely uninformed. I am a wife, mother and a hunter. My family harvested 4 cow elk and 2 deer which have all been processed by us and are in our freezer for the next year. Their are no horns for my walls, no hides for my floors. We harvest healthy animals, and enjoy great meals all year because of them. The weak, nature takes care of during winter. It makes you sound very uneducated to compare a man hunting a bear to a possible child molester or worse. I am a well respected member of my community as is my husband and children who are both hunters. If you cannot educate yourself regarding the true nature of hunters and base your knowledge off of what you see on TV, then maybe you should just keep your comments to yourself.

There is no skill in hunting when the food provided from the kill is not necessary in the society we live in. You are killing for the sake of killing. It is ridiculous, we are not a Hunter/Gatherer society, there is no reasoning for this when you have King Soopers. Why not take up hiking or backpacking if you want to go outdoors. It is lunacy that I need to even argue this.

Wow, what a winner! Maybe he found the cubs and killed them too just for good measure. Skill in hunting?? LOL, you being serious…then why are their deer feeders? What about that schmuck who killed the friendly bull elk in Estes? You are both the same, absolute trash. Karma is a biatch that works slow.

Tracking in this day in age is not that hard. A bear would have a hard time making it to Wyoming, Canada, or Montana these days. Ever heard of the Yukon to Yellowstone Initiative Hunter??? Probably not because you sound like a moron. It was created to give these large carnivores enough room to roam and live like they have in the past. The thought of having to cordon off land so these wonderful creatures can roam freely refutes your idiotic statement that they are hard to track. Maybe back in the early 1900s, but not know. Moron.

This hunter played by the rules, he bought a license, he tracked and killed what he was looking for. Every carnivorous animal hunts and they don’t play by rules it’s a game of chance and he came out on top. Rules are set in place by the division of wildlife to help create a positive balance in the state. And it works. Just because you buy all your food in a grocery store doesn’t mean that the food your eating doesn’t tell a similar story. I commend this hunter on this kill and hope it taste delicious.

Yeah, big game of CHANCE-killing a sleeping bear! And I didn’t know that bear meat was typically appearing on someone’s plate! Let us bet about the BIG MAN with the peanut in his pants! And do you even know English, moron?

Big cowardly man has to shoot a bear in a den. Well I hope he feels good about himself you see because it’s all about him!!! He doesn’t care that he took a life! He could care less about wildlife because he’s a big man who bagged a bear in a den, the bear was probably sleeping. This guy should go to jail for what he did!! This should be illegal! But he is so proud! He will get what’s coming to him someday and I hope you suffer!!

Hey folks. We may not agree with what this man did, but we don’t need to be so nasty about it. We don’t know anything about him other than that he killed a bear. Why are people condemning him to eternal damnation for shooting a bear? Might he have made a mistake? Perhaps. Have you ever made a mistake? Do you think you should go to hell for it?????

Ernest Hemingway always belived if you want to hunt the prey shoud have an even chance of killing you as you have of killing it. So if you want to go bear hunting, go with just a knife. You kill a bear with with only a knife then you have something to brag about.

Have to agree with Hemingway on this. If you go into a sleeping bear’s den with a high powered rifle you are no Macho Stud. There is no possibility you can lose so you are the same as a Ponzi schemer taking advantage of people who made the mistake of respecting you. Hope all your friends make fun of you to your face instead of behind your back.

well now Kara…let’s not call someone a name unless you know what it means. Redneck is not the name of a back woods stupid person with a love of moonshine and hunting. The name redneck came from a coal mine strike…and the men that worked for the company wore red scarves so they would know who was on their team…when the fighting broke out.

Killing a bear in its den while it is asleep or preparing for hibernation is not a thing that any really ethical hunter or sportsman would do. “Tracking through the snow” is a nice idea, but this entire incident does little to promote the concept of sportsmanship and casts a poor light on the whole hunting community.
As a hunter, I would like to apologize for this individuals actions and state this is not the norm for true hunters/sportsmen who support wildlife conservation and management through voluntary taxation and contributions.

Nicely said! I, too, am a hunter and do not think that what this man did is acceptable in any way. However, all those posting things about ALL hunters is also not fair! One bad story doesn’t mean that all hunters should be grouped with this guy.

Beautiful bear! Great job! This man followed every law he was required to. He waited for an opportunity to present itself and when it didn’t, he took action. Would any of you southern California bleeding heart liberals have the gumption to go into a bear den when you KNEW a 700 pound bear was in there waiting for you? I didn’t think so! Go back to where you came from and leave this amazing state to us natives who made it what it is!

You’re right = he does have gumption. The gumption of bacteria that feed on animals that are already dead (such as a bear hibernating in his den). He went into that den because he KNEW there was zero danger.

Feel free to pretend that he deserves respect. I am sure he pretends he deserves respect too.

1) It is illegal not to take the meat when hunting game.
2) It is illegal to kill the sow (female) with cubs.
3) For this bear to reach this size, it is mature and has been for some time. It has has “opportunity” to propagate the species. It may have done so.
4) We are a hunter-gatherer society. Everything you and I consume from water on up is diverted from what would be the natural setting. If you eat meat or meat products, it comes from animals and either impacts or kills the animal or affects the ecosystem around the animal. If you eat plants, they are killed or the seeds (offspring) are killed again affecting the ecosystem. And because we are here on earth, we change all ecosystems to provide for ourselves and offspring.
5) Hunting and fishing provide the funds that the DOW needs to protect and provide habitat for these beautiful creatures. Please donate to these agencies at any time and don’t forget comes tax refund time.
6) You have literally two choices in how you see humans: Either we’re natural (evolved) and part of nature and therefore everything we do is natural. Or we’re supernatural and all of nature was created for our use. Not to say that we shouldn’t do everything we reasonably can to protect it.

We claim to be a superior species, therefore should act superior – that would be honorably. Ever heard of that word? Any “man” who would kill a sleeping bear in his den does the same as raping a drunk girl, robbing an elderly or disabled person or being a pedophile.

Why didn’t you post under your real name, “Mr.” Kendall?

I hope your friends make fun of you to your face instead of behind your back.

You claim to be superior and your unreasonable comments reflect that “superiority”. I’m just pointing things out that are incorrect in the previous comments. I can’t equate what this hunter did to any of the revolting acts that you equate it to…they just don’t equate. Just ask anyone who is a victim of those crimes. The hunter did not rape, steal or act in an immoral way. He’s not a criminal for killing a bear. You just don’t like it (which is your right) but you can’t refute what I’ve said.

I did put my real name. I don’t know Mr. Kendall. I didn’t know the bear.

Ethics-Schmethics! There’s nothing wrong with wanting to kill a bear, buying a license, going out into the woods, tracking one and killing iit. That hunter did Colorado a favor by helping manage the bear herd.

This is like killing someone asleep in their bed. My grandfather was a well known hunter and guide in Canada. One day he was walking along in the winter snow and he fell into a bear’s den. He had to kill her with his hatchet or he would have died. The two cubs were kept tied up at his roadside store until they got too big and had to go to a zoo.

Do you understand that there’s a difference between a bear den and a cave? I also wonder that those of you expressing a desire that this hunter be killed. That’s crazy stuff and you could be LEGALLY held accountable.

Nowhere in the article did I read that the bear was sleeping. Not being a hunter myself, is it safe to assume that after 5 hours in the den, the bear was indeed sleeping?

My grandfather hunts. I never have. Personally, I don’t think I could ever kill any animal. That doesn’t say that I don’t agree or disagree with what this hunter did. If it’s legal then it’s legal, right? So why is everyone up in arms about this?

I have been a big game bow/rifle hunter for 40 years. I did not know that, ethically speaking, one is not supposed to shoot a bear in its den. This is like shooting a roosting turkey, ducks on the water or a pheasant on the ground, all of which I know better not to do. But…personally I would not have killed that bear. It would not have felt right. However, I do not fault Mr. Kendall as his ethics can be different than mine and others. If it were against the law it would be a different story. And apparently it may soon be against the law…which IMO would be fine with me.

All of you that get so emotional to the point of threatening another person’s life is just plain crazy. You people do not have all the facts here. There are many unanswered questions (as a hunter I know) so before you condemn this person either get the answers or drop it.